Humane Society announces campaign to raise $3.7 million for a new adoption center

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri announced Wednesday a capital campaign to raise $3.7 million for the construction of a new 12,000-square-foot humane education and adoption center.

Two lots have been purchased beside the existing adoption center at 2536 Boutin Drive in Cape Girardeau, as volunteers for the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri say the facility no longer meets the needs of people and pets in the community.

“We lose animals just because of severe, upper respiratory infections,” board of directors president Charlotte Craig said.

The existing building will become a holding center, of sorts, until animals are ready to be adopted.

Plans for the new adoption center include separate ventilation systems to help control the spread of disease, surfaces that can be properly cleaned and maintained, group housing for cats that allows interaction and space to roam, larger kennels to prevent disease, proper draining to keep pets warm and dry and humane education to “encourage empathy and compassion,” according to the shelter’s website.

A sample brick from the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri's "Buy A Brick" program is seen Wednesday at Laughing Gas Comedy in Cape Girardeau.RACHAEL LONG

Several of the amenities for the new building are a result of guidelines the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri must follow because the shelter is licensed through the Department of Agriculture and inspected by the Department of Natural Resources.

“Three and a half million dollars catches your breath when you say it out loud,” Craig said of the cost for the new center. “But there are regulations that we have to [follow for a new building] that we’re just going to have to abide by.”

The new building will offer some separation from those animals not quite ready for adoption.

“Only healthy animals who can leave that front door will be in the new building,” Craig said. “Animals waiting, for whatever reason, to become adoptable will be in the old building for the time being.”

Craig said the Humane Society has already raised more than $1 million, primarily from private donations and some small estates. Work on the new building could begin as soon as June 1, Craig said, assuming the board reaches its funding goal.

Part of the reason for the $3.7 million price tag, Craig said, is a half-million dollar air-exchange heating and air-conditioning unit.

“Illnesses will be mostly preventable,” Craig said. “In the old building ... the moisture breeds bacteria, it’s a great breeding ground for bacteria and viruses.”

Along with the new digs, Craig said one of the goals for the new space is to have a veterinarian on staff. Despite the cost associated with such a staffing change, Craig said the shelter could potentially make money with addition of a veterinarian.

“Our adoption rate is going to go up,” Craig said, noting more adoptions taking place will allow for more space at the adoption center, “and more animals being saved.”

It also means moving toward the goal of becoming a “no-kill” shelter, which is classified as having a 90% save rate. Craig said a “save rate” describes situations in which the humane society helps an animal become adopted, be returned to its owner or be placed into rescue.

As of 2019, Craig said the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri had reached a 73% save rate for cats and a 94% save rate for dogs.

As for officially becoming a no-kill shelter, Craig said, “I think we might do it before we get in the new building.”

Craig, who has been involved with the shelter’s board since its incorporation in 1977, said the new adoption center has been 30 years in the making.

“We’ve been this close before and had the rug pulled out from underneath us,” Craig said. “We’ve done it right this time. We’ve gotten a steering committee with community people who know, not just Cape, but Southeast Missouri.”

In addition to building plans, Craig said the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri will also go through a rebranding process including a name change.

“People get us confused with the Humane Society of the United States or the Humane Society of Missouri and don’t realize that each shelter or pet center runs separately,” said Tracy Poston, executive director of the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri. “This would be a good opportunity for us to distinguish ourselves from the crowd.”

No formal timeline exists for the rebranding, but Poston said she hopes to see the community get involved in the naming opportunities within the capital campaign.

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri does not receive funding from a larger national organization, a misconception Craig clarified during Wednesday’s event.

“Everybody thinks that because we have ‘Humane Society’ in our name, they think the Humane Society of the United States supports us,” Craig said. “They do not. They don’t support any shelters; that’s not what they’re for. We get no funding from any ASPCA, no Humane Society, no state organization. We are funded by grants, donations and hard work.”

Craig said the shelter has a contract with the City of Cape Girardeau to provide animal services when strays are picked up by nuisance abatement officers with animal control. Once the animals are brought in, Craig said it’s up to the shelter to provide food, water and care until the animal is saved.

“They come to us, and then we do the rest,” Craig said. “People think [the city] finances us, and that’s just not the case.”

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri has contracts with several communities in Southeast Missouri, such as Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, Jackson, Perry County, Scott City, Chaffee and Miner, as well as the Illinois communities of Thebes and McClure. Poston said the shelter also accepts animals from about 14 counties, as space allows, and saves more than 3,000 animals each year.

There are several ways to support the new adoption center, including basic donations, naming opportunities and the “Buy-A-Brick” program, which offers givers the chance to purchase personalized memorial pavers. Donations made toward the campaign for a new adoption center should be noted as such.

“It is all about saving lives,” Craig said. “It’s as much about the community as it is about cats and dogs.”

For more information or to make a donation to the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri, visit the shelter website at semopets.org or make a donation through the shelter’s Facebook page.